Moscow-linked church no longer has access to caves and relics of Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra

Monks and believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), which is affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church, have been banned from entering the caves of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra (Monastery of the Caves) starting from 21 March while a commission assesses the state of items of cultural value.

Source: Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate

Quote: "On 20 March 2023, the management of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra National Reserve sent a letter to the monastery informing it that from now on, access to the Near and Far Caves would be denied by the museum due to the work of a commission that will be determining the level of preservation of ‘cultural property’ [as representatives of the Ministry of Culture and the reserve call the relics of the monks and other shrines – ed.].

In addition, access to the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, the Church of the Conception of St Anne and the Church of All the Venerable Fathers of the Caves (Teplyi church) will be closed. This means that prayer in these churches will be impossible."

Details: Metropolitan Klyment of Nizhyn and Pryluky, the head of the Information and Education Department of the UOC-MP, said that the commission has been working since 20 March, but the date when its work will be complete is unknown. In addition, believers will not be able to venerate the relics while the commission is working.

The letter from the Ministry of Culture official states that "access to the facilities [i.e. churches and caves] will be restricted" while the commission is working to determine "the presence, safety and state of preservation of cultural property".

The UOC-MP stated that the closure of the caves by the reserve without warning is an unprecedented manifestation of the restriction of the rights of Ukrainian believers travelling en masse from different oblasts these days in the hope of venerating the Kyiv Caves shrines".

Background:

• On 10 March, the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra National Reserve informed the monastery of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate that from 29 March 2023, the 10-year-old agreement (dated 19 July 2013) on the rent-free use of religious buildings and other state-owned property will be terminated. The warning included a demand to vacate the buildings on 11 Lavrska Street and 15 Lavrska Street in Kyiv.
• Oleksandr Tkachenko, Ukraine’s Minister of Culture, stressed that monks and clergy of the UOC-MP should leave all the premises of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra by the end of March.
• The UOC-MP stated that there are no legal grounds for this. Monks of the UOC-MP refused to move out of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra. 
• On 20 March, representatives of the UOC-MP wanted to meet with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. When this failed, they published an appeal to Zelenskyy, calling on him not to take away the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra from them.
• In 2022, the Security Service of Ukraine conducted dozens of searches of the premises of several churches and monasteries of the UOC-MP, including the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. As of 23 February 2023, the Security Service of Ukraine was investigating almost 60 criminal proceedings against the pro-Russian clergy of the UOC-MP. More than 350 church buildings and 850 people were subjected to in-depth checks. The courts handed down seven guilty verdicts.

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